Toni Braxton files for bankruptcy again

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

<p>Singer Toni Braxton performs as a guest during the opening show of the young singers contest New Wave in Jurmala July 27, 2010.Ints Kalnins</p>

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Grammy-winning singer Toni Braxton, whose string of hits in the 1990s included "Another Sad Love Song" and "Breathe Again," has filed for bankruptcy for a second time in her career.

In court papers, Braxton lists assets from $1 million to $10 million, and debts ranging from $10 million to $50 million. She filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy late last week, meaning she does not have the ability to pay existing debts.

Braxton, 42, began singing with her sisters in the 1980s and a solo career shortly thereafter, climbing record charts with her self-titled "Toni Braxton" in 1993, which sold over 8 million copies.

She earned Grammys for best new artist and best R&B female vocal in 1994, and followed that up with another Grammy win in 1995. Her second album in 1996, "Secrets," was equally successful as the first, and she added two more Grammys to her stash of awards.

But in 1998, she broke with her music company and filed her first bankruptcy, in what was the first of several career and personal setbacks. Still, she continued to perform and even shifted gears to singing and acting on stage and in films.

In 2008, while working in Las Vegas, Braxton was hospitalized for chest pains, and she later revealed -- when a contestant on TV's "Dancing With the Stars" -- she suffered from a vascular disease. Later that same year, Braxton underwent surgery to have a benign tumor removed from her breast.